A 60's Eagle Street Christmas

Mom and Dad always went all out for Christmas.  This was a special day that they seemed to enjoy just as much as we kids did.  They took tree decorating very seriously.  It was a complicated affair that we kids chose to let them enjoy without our interference.  First, someone would have to go down in the dark and dusty basement and retrieve the big Christmas Box.  In that box were old ornaments, even older electric lights, and many memories of Christmases past.

Dad would bring home a big tree.  He and Mom would go over every inch of it, deciding whether the tree would go by the window or smack dab in the middle of the room.  If it had a bad side, it would go in the corner or by the window.  If it was the perfect tree, it was placed in the center of the room.  Sometimes Dad would take some discarded branches from the tree lot and use them to fill in some bare spots.  He would drill a little hole in the trunk and insert the branch, and somehow attach it using twine.  Then they would lay out all the lights on the floor.  These were fifties-era lights that should have been thrown away years before.  The cords were frayed and taped up here and there with electrical tape.  These lights also had the annoying feature of not working if even one light bulb was a dud.  It took them at least an hour just to get the lights ready to hang on the tree.  We kids just let them go about this important job while we looked in the Sears catalog for stuff we wanted from  Santa.

Our family opened presents very late at night on Christmas Eve. But first, we had to go to bed very early.  It seemed like we had just fallen asleep when Mom would come in our rooms shouting that we need to hurry up and get out of bed because Santa was still in the living room dropping off presents.  We would jump out of our beds and run to try to see Santa.  We would get to the living room and there under the tree, piles and piles of presents had magically appeared.  Dad would be sitting in his E-Z chair, puffing on his pipe and relaxing with a drink.  Mom would guide us to our presents, suggesting to us which ones to open first.  There were always so many gifts.  Each of us had at least 10 gifts under the tree.

After we had opened everything up, Mom had us line all our stuff under the tree and go back to bed. It was probably a good strategy on their part, because they could sleep in on Christmas morning, and we would keep ourselves amused in the morning with the toys we got the night before.

Lynda recalls one Christmas that was a little bit different:

" One year, Mom and Dad decided it would be fun if the kids actually caught Santa in the act.  As usual, we were sent to bed early on Christmas Eve, then all of a sudden she came in saying, "Hurry, hurry, Santa is here!"  We ran down the hallway into the living room and there he was!  Santa was right there at our tree, putting presents underneath! It was exciting and fun to get to visit with Santa.  After a while we took our attention away from Santa and got to the business at hand--opening up all our presents.  Dad took Santa into the kitchen, poured each of them a drink, and they proceeded to have a nice cheerful little visit.  A few drinks later, both of them were feeling quite jolly.  Then little Darwin went looking for Dad and Santa and found them in the kitchen having their own celebration.  He told Mom that Daddy and Santa were in the kitchen acting very happy and Mom knew what that meant.  She didn't want the rest of the kids to see a tipsy Santa, so she told me to keep the kids in the living room while she snuck Santa out through the side door.  Dad offered to give him some regular clothes so he could stay longer without the kids knowing it was him, but Mom wasn't on board with that, so Santa went on his way.  I can't say that I ever saw Dad drunk, but on that one Christmas Eve when he was drinking with Santa, he was very jovial and happy.  I never him as relaxed and cheerful as he was during that moment in time."

Thanks, Lynda!

Here is the earliest photo I have found with Santa in our house:

From left:  Skippy, Darwin, Santa, and (I think) Susan's baby Cathy

I don't know if I was there for the 1960 Santa visit, but I was there for the 1961 visit:

Back row:Cathy, Santa, Tammy, Darwin, Skippy, Front row, Patti's kids Robby and Zina

Tim (?) on the couch, Cathy, Tammy and Susan

Tammy, Santa, and Skippy.  I don't know why Mom called me Amy in this photo

Skippy and Darwin in the Back row, Robby and Zina in the front row.

The last visit from Santa came in 1965:

Early Sixties Christmas Eves were crazy and fun.  My older sisters were there with their kids who were my age, and everyone was happy and got along  great. Here are a few more great photos:

Christmas 1963.  Tammy and Cathy.  Technically I was her aunt, but I saw her as a cousin and friend.

Christmas 1965.  I loved that inflatable red reindeer and cried like a baby when it sprung a leak a couple years later.  That cool blue  3 wheel thing was a Vroom and it was a really fun ride.  You steered it with the red tipped stick. It had some kind of button you could push and it would make a engine sound, hence the name, Vroooom! If you look real close at Dad's table, you will see the big goblet he always drank out of. Look above Dad's head and you will see some of the Victorian kissing balls that Mom had hanging on a chain attached to the walls all around the room.

Christmas eve 1968.  There's Dad in his usual spot, with his cans of tobacco, big goblet, and opening a can of his favorite fancy nuts.  Tammy and Jeff opening our gifts.

And for the final Christmas of the sixties, A typical Christmas for Dad.  Shaving Cream, Pipe Tobacco, huge bottles of booze, and a couple of new work shirts.

There is no doubt about it--Mom and Dad loved Christmas and made sure that their kids enjoyed it too.  It was always a warm and wonderful time on Eagle Street.